Artificial Best Friend
by WildWithin
Summary: Pit reflects on the unique experiences he's had with his best friend.


**A/N: Hey guys! This is just a quick little thing, I wanted to explore and develop Pit's perspective on being BFF's with a certain someone in the mansion. :D**

…

Pit was friends with a lot of unique people, and he personally knew even more unique people.

It was to be expected; the Smash Mansion was like a second home to a very large and diverse group of fighters from every corner of the universes and beyond. There were princes, aliens, warlocks, 2-D entities, creatures that could harness elemental abilities, chosen heroes, and even normal humans all under the mansion's room. The angel, his dark clone, and his goddess fit right in. But, to Pit, there was one person here who could stand out in any crowd: the little boy named Rock.

Most people would say that it was unethical for a child his age to be in a fighting tournament, but Ness and Lucas did fine. Rock did mostly fine.

It was strange and almost scary to think that less than ten minutes ago, the young boy to his right had been a ruthless fighting machine out there in the arena, going after foes that were considered friends on any other occasion without a moment's hesitation. But now he was sitting on the couch with one of the mansion's cats snuggled in his lap. The precise sensors and actuators intended for meticulous and systematic accuracy in the laboratory were being put to good use as he gently rubbed the cat's head and chin, smiling and happily telling the feline that her whiskers tickled.

Even after all these years, Pit could hardly believe that a robot could be so much like a child. Sometimes he had to remind himself that his best friend was indeed robotic. Dr. Light had originally created Rock to be a lab assistant and a helper around the house. There was no need for such a realistically human design, but Pit had no complaints. Rock was amazing, and so was his creator. The little boy was just as good a best friend as anyone else, perhaps even better than most. He was a very sweet little bot; just the other day Pit had seen him give a wildflower to Samus, telling her that she had seemed lonely sitting by herself. Not many people in the mansion were actually brave enough to approach the often distant and indifferent bounty hunter. Pit figured that this little action had been the combined result of Rock's impeccable observation skills and his child-like kindness. After all, his A.I. had been configured to that of a ten year-old's to better match his outward appearance, and everybody knew that little kids could be some of the sweetest people.

Unfortunately, it was his super advanced A.I.'s configured age that was a drawback in battle. His designated purpose was a helpful lab assistant, not a fighting machine. Research and battle were two totally different things, and it didn't help that Rock was a pacifist. Rock had volunteered to be repurposed into Mega Man, the hero that he was today, in order to protect his home and the people he loved. He actually _volunteered _to be a hero. Not many people in the mansion had been given that liberty of choice; many of them had been forced into it by destiny or something along those lines. Unfortunately, Rock was just too young to handle what a hero had to do sometimes. So, when the brawls and battles got to be too much for him, he'd turn off his emotions until the match was done or the fight was won.

Rock had once confessed that he hated having to do this. He said that it felt like a cowardly thing to do, and it made him feel immature.

Pit took it upon himself to make sure that Rock didn't feel like he should push himself beyond his limits. Everyone had their limits, and Pit was no exception. The angel could only safely use the Power of Flight for five minutes. Rock could only handle so much in battle. The other smashers knew this and respected it. So, if he retreated from the main fight suddenly, they would not pursue him, because they knew that it was only to temporarily deactivate his emotions before he jumped right back into the action. Okay, Ganondorf and Bowser would go after him, but they were jerks, anyways.

The cat in Rock's lap abruptly decided that she had snuggled for long enough, and hopped off his lap and stretched before padding away.

"Bye, kitty," Rock said softly, so as not to disturb Ike, who was napping on the other couch nearby. He looked up at Pit with big blue eyes, which were deceptively real for being high-definition pixilated images just behind glass optic lenses. "So, what do you wanna do now?" he asked, gently kicking his bulky blue boots.

"I dunno," Pit replied, shifting his feathered wings a bit. "Gaming tournament in my room?"

Rock grinned. "Sure!"

The two hopped off the couch and dashed out of the living room, saying quick greetings to the fellow smashers that they passed in the mansion's hallways. They entered the main hallway and climbed the gently curved staircase that led up to the second floor, where all the dorms were.

Soon they were at Pit's room and setting up for the tournament. The angel was booting up his Wii U and pulling out a variety of multiplayer games as Rock pulled a large comforter blanket from the pile on Pit's bed. The robot threw the heavy blanket over Pit's head, earning a small yelp of surprise from the angel, before he crawled into its warm confines and settled on the floor next to Pit.

"Alright, I've got Nintendo Land, Hyrule Warriors, Mario Kart 8..." Pit listed off the games he had.

Rock hummed with thought. "Well, we haven't played Nintendo Land in a while," the boy noted. "How about we play that first?" Pit seemed to agree, and even before the game had started up the duo had decided on playing the Metroid Blast minigame.

Soon the room was filled with shouts such as "there's a Zebesian behind you!" and "I've only got one hit point left!" and "wait, don't grab that! I need it!"

They were just about to battle Kraid when someone appeared at the door.

"What are you two screaming about?" Dark Pit asked. "I can hear it from my room."

"Sorry, we were just having a super awesome gaming tournament!" Rock said happily.

"Yeah! Wanna join?" Pit offered, holding out a Wiimote to the dark angel.

After a moment's consideration, the other replied, "eh, I've got nothing better to do," and promptly joined the gaming party. Soon they moved on to the Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest minigame. After a few rounds of that, Ness and Lucas happened to walk by and notice what was going on, and asked to join in. Rock handed a controller to Ness as Pit switched the minigame to Mario Chase, and Lucas sat out the first round to finish his blueberry yogurt.

After a few more rounds of that, someone realized that it was about dinnertime, and they all headed down to the dining room to eat, all except for Rock. He was a robot, so he didn't need to eat. Pit didn't miss the subtle clues in his best friend's actions and words that told him that he felt left out when everyone went down to eat. He couldn't help it; robots could not eat. Rock ran on solar energy, so when it was sunny outside he'd go out to charge in the sunlight, and Pit would follow with his lunch in hand.

Rock once told Pit that he wanted to know what pizza tasted like. Luckily for him, Dr. Light was developing a way that robots could safely use human food as fuel. As soon as that was done, Pit was definitely taking Rock to his favorite pizza place.

Soon everyone was back, bringing Toon Link, Lucina, and Shulk with them, and an immensely chaotic 8-Player Smash was started. Needless to say, there was a lot of yelling and unnecessary battle cries.

Soon it grew dark outside, and with Lucas' suggestion they decided to watch a movie. After a quick vote, the movie they decided on was How To Train your Dragon. Pit and Rock had already seen the movie dozens of times, but they still enjoyed watching it. Apparently, Lucina had never seen it at all. With the Wii U powered off and the movie's opening scenes beginning to play, they all settled in to watch. Rock wrapped his end of the comforter around him and leaned against Pit's side. In return, Pit put his wing around his robotic friend.

It must be true that time flies when you're having fun, because the movie was over before they knew it. As everyone began to get up and leave for their own rooms, chatting idly about the movie, Pit realized that Rock had accidentally gone into sleep mode still leaning against him.

With a smile, Pit gently lifted his sleeping friend up off the ground. He was careful not to jostle him or make too much noise, so that he didn't accidentally trip his friend's security sensors and wake him up. For anyone else, lifting a 230 pound robot without making too much noise would be a difficult task, but for an angel who was used to wielding weapons that were much heavier, it was a piece of cake.

An angel and a robot, who would've guessed that such an unlikely pair would be best friends? It certainly wasn't an impossibility in such a place as the Smash Mansion. You could meet anyone here, really, but that was beside the point. Pit and Rock hadn't even _met _in the Smash Mansion. They had been best friends for years, ever since they met in the late eighties, when they were both very young. They had spent a lot of time together back then, but drifted apart as time went by and their duties to serve and protect got in the way of fun times. Now, after so much time, they could finally spend time together like they did when they first met. Pit had changed quite a bit over the years. Rock was the same as he had always been.

Reflecting back on when they'd grown apart, Pit wondered if that would ever happen again. Yes, that time it was because life had gotten in the way, but what if they actually did grow apart for real?

Pit didn't ever want that to happen. Rock was a very special friend, and friends like him were hard to come across these days. If someone was having a bad day, Rock would try his best to cheer them up. If someone was having trouble with something, Rock would gladly volunteer his time and energy to help them. If someone wanted something as simple as a person to talk to or to hang out with, Rock was there. And if someone was in danger, Rock would not hesitate to defend them from harm.

Sometimes people would ask Pit why he wanted to be friends with a robot, of all things. First of all, he didn't _want _to because he already _was _friends, and he knew it because the 'best friend status' had been confirmed on both ends. Second of all, the angel found it rude that people would judge him solely based on the fact that he was made of circuitry and metal. People would say things like 'he's just a robot' and ' he only does that because he's programmed to do that.' Yes, Rock was programmed to be helpful and kind, but he didn't mindlessly follow programmed codes that told him how to respond to what stimulus all day. He formed his own opinions, he made his own decisions, he observed and learned just like anyone else. Programming and fancy codes could do none of that. All of these things made him a very special friend.

As Pit laid his sleeping friend down on his bed and tucked him in, Rock's red robotic dog named Rush looked up from where he'd been laying on the floor, chewing on a rope toy. Pit patted the covers on the end of the bed, and Rush hopped up and curled up by the boy's large boots. He patted the dog's head and Rush's tail wagged.

"Goodnight, you two," he said softly, and left with a smile.


End file.
